Metronome
by ZAFO
Summary: —HighSchool AU: Female!Jack— She doesn't know when annoyance transformed into tolerance, or when tolerance transformed into acceptance, or when acceptance finally transformed into affection, but... Gift-fic to Canadino!


**Title: ** Metronome**  
>Rating: <strong>T**  
>Fandom: <strong> Lord of the Flies**  
>Genres: <strong> Friendship, Romance, Drama**  
>Summary: <strong>—HighSchool AU: Female!Jack— She doesn't know when annoyance transformed into tolerance, or when tolerance transformed into acceptance, or when acceptance finally transformed into affection...but she knows that if her arch rival ever caught wind of her feelings, she'd be done for... Gift-fic to Canadino!

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

—

Jacqueline Merridew—or simply_ Jac,_ as she often preferred to write in the top left corner her high school assignments—scowled angrily as she kicked aside her toppled desk, shooting a fierce death glare to her long time rival across the classroom.

She spoke slowly; lowly.

"So you think you're better than me, Ralph...?"

The golden-haired boy merely smirked.

"What do _you_ think, Jac?"

...and then she charged, a bloodthirsty battle cry erupting from her throat as she practically_ flew _over numerous other wooden desks. Students hurriedly parted like the sea before Moses to escape her wrath.

"Ralphie-boy there must have a death wish or_ something..."_ Roger muttered, before brushing a bit of dirt off his dark blue uniform blazer.

"No—"

"—it's not that—"

"—he's just—"

"—really brave!" Samneric gushed cheerily,

Roger gave them both a deadpanned look.

"Don't ever mistake bravery for stupidity." he said blandly.

Almost as if to prove his point, a loud _bang!_ then resonated throughout the room, followed by a cut-off yelp which more than likely meant that Ralph, once again, had been tackled to the ground and was choking under the Merridew girl's infamously harsh grip.

"_Fight! Fight! Fight!" _ whooped Maurice, as a small circle of teenagers slowly gathered enough courage to stand timidly along the sidelines to watch. Roger rolled his eyes, but joined in the fray nonetheless with Samneric nipping at his heels.

This time, Ralphie-boy was losing: and badly, at that.

Though struggling valiantly, the redheaded girl's taller stature gave her a slight advantage in their little scuffles... combined with this, and the boniness of her every limb (they were as sharp as _knives, _dammit) Jacqueline was a formidable foe who wasn't above playing dirty.

It really was a shame that Ralph was still too chivalrous to stoop to her level.

"Get...o-off me!" he rasped, grimacing as Jac instead tightened her grip.

"Take it back." she responded murderously.

Learning over him like that, Ralph was tempted to crack a sexual tension joke (or at least a witty comment about her close-to-non-existent chest...) to embarrass her. Unfortunately, at the moment he couldn't get more than a word out of his mouth and thus had to choose something far more important:

"N-never...!"

Pride first.

"_You!"_

It didn't matter. In a few seconds, Ralph, pumped full of adrenaline tinged with a small bout of fear (not that he'd ever admit it) managed to worm a folded leg under Jac's stomach to unfurl it, powerfully, like a released sling shot that flung her painfully off his person in a heartbeat.

"_OW!" _

Jac crashed into one of the few desks still standing, which then toppled over just like all the rest and set off a second fall that landed her flat on her ass.

When the harsh impact registered; so did the rest of the small injuries and aches she had acquired, and Jac bit back a groan as she struggled to her feet.

To her chagrin, _Ralphie-boy_ was already up, and grinning madly.

"What the fuck are you smiling about?" she spat, wincing as one of the many pains in her body throbbed venomously.

"Nothing..."

"The _fuck_ it's nothing! I'll wipe that shit-eating grin off your face in an instant, you bastard!"

"Do you want to know why?" she heard a deep voice, familiar and calming yet laced with warning.

It was Roger. Her best friend.

The dark, brooding boy made his way over to his injured friend and almost gently pulled her skirt down; to cover to lacey pink panties that had accidentally been uncovered during her fall.

Jac's cheeks burned red with realization.

Realization, and humiliation.

Humiliation, and a fiery anger.

The boys and girls of the class all simultaneously looked away: at the ceiling, at the floor, at the wall, at each other... it was kind of funny, really, but all of them knew that so much as a chuckle would land them at the top of Jac Merridew's _'To Kill' _list...

...well, at least after Ralph, who had proved to them time and time again that he was damn hard to kill.

"Pink, eh?" the blonde boy snickered almost perversely. "It really suits you!"

The redhead glowered dangerously.

"Ralph..."

"Seriously!" he continued. "I thought you were the type to wear freakin' _boxers_ or something!"

_"Ralph..."_

This time his name had come from Bill; who was among those in the audience growing increasingly concerned for the jovial jock.

"Who knew you were so _girly?"_ Ralph finished.

And that was it.

Jac lunged, eyes flashing madly as her gaze met his.

She was so close. So, _so_ close to pummeling the hell out of the arrogant boy and extracting her revenge—but a strong hand stopped her before hitting her target, then deftly lifted her up into the air by the collar of her shirt.

Her rival was dangling helplessly across from her as well, the playful expression on his face suddenly glazed over with fear as both he and Jac realized just who it was.

Mr. Smith...

Their English teacher.

_*Ahem*_

Both teenagers avoided eye-contact; knowing full well that they would be in for one hefty punishment once the school nurse deemed it a-ok for them to accept it.

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><p>—<p>

Jacqueline stared up at the expanse of tiled, grimy white ceiling, sulking as the nurse finally left the room.

Ralph, being the lazy bum he was, had fallen fast asleep behind the divider obscuring her own bed from his view, taking advantage of the calm before the storm.

Jac sighed, stretching her arms out warily.

Once her parents found out that she had gotten into a fight with that idiot _again..._

She didn't even want to think about it. Last time she hadn't been able to leave her room (save for school, meals, and bathroom breaks) for a whole month.

"_Some good it did sending **you **off to Catholic school!" _she could already see her father shouting, before her mother too joined in with incoherent waterworks.

Whatever...

"Hey. Jac?"

A soft voice snapped her out of her cynical musings as she turned her head to the source of sound, only to spring upright immediately upon seeing exactly who it was.

"_Simon!"_ she hissed, growing absolutely livid when the boy simply gave a serene smile in response.

"I've brought you some fruit." he said casually, placing a spotted banana on the small table next to them.

Jac's arm lashed out and clenched his wrist tightly once the fruit dropped, glaring harshly as she did so.

"_What the fuck are you doing here? " _she whispered, a slight tinge of red blending into her freckles.

"To visit you, of course." Simon replied simply. "The other kids said you got into a fight with that blonde boy again..."

Taking his wrist quickly—refusing to let go—Jac threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, then marched out of the nurse's office with her younger charge in tow.

Snapping one eye open just in time to witness this scene, Ralph took note of how oddly compliant the underclassman was with his arch-rival...and also the the red, red, embarrassed look on her face as she dragged him away.

_'Interesting.' _he thought, as a shit-eating grin grew large on his face once again.

[end chapter]

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><p>—<p>

**A/N: **I HOPE YOU LIKE IT/ARE AT LEAST SOMEWHAT AMUSED BY IT CANADINO (and everyone else)...


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